Republican candidate for President Nikki Haley held a press conference this morning, which many speculated would be Haley’s announcement that she would drop out of the Republican Presidential Primary race. Haley held that press conference this morning, and in her opening remarks, dispelled rumors that she would be suspending her campaign.
Haley began by saying, “Some of you came here today to see if I’m dropping out out of the race…well, I’m not.” See a video of Haley making that statement in the clip below…
JUST IN: @NikkiHaley says she will NOT drop out of the Republican primary race:
“Some of you came here today to see if I’m dropping out out of the race…well, I’m not.” pic.twitter.com/KKSQGoespO
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) February 20, 2024
Current polls, courtesy of FiveThirtyEight.com, currently have former President Donald Trump polling at 64% in Haley’s homes State of South Carolina. Haley sits at 32.5%, just more than half of Trump’s total. Nationally, FiveThirtyEight shows that former President Trump leads Haley Nationally by a total of over 71 points. Trump currently sits at 77.7%, and Haley at just 16.6%.
Haley’s federal campaign finance data shows that her Presidential campaign has raised over $36 Million in this race. By comparison, former President Trump has raised over $79 Million, far outpacing Haley.
Some Twitter users accused Haley of ‘faking out’ the media with her planned speech, as most major outlets, including Fox News, picked up coverage of Haley’s speech. Haley also told the Associated Press this morning that she will remain in the Republican Primary race regardless of what happens on Saturday, February 24th in the South Carolina Republican primary, where Donald Trump is expected to pull off a massive victory.
Many prominent political strategists, including controversial political operative Roger Stone, have predicted that Haley will drop out of the race after the South Carolina Primary. Others have speculated that Haley will remain in the Primary race in an attempt to strong-arm her way into a potential Vice Presidency under Donald Trump.